The Lesson in the Fight
by angelena76
Summary: Inspired by the "Friends" episode where Monica & Chandler had their first fight. B&B have their first serious fight as a couple.


In our discussions of examples of couples who got together and the show continued to work, one example that came up and that I elaborated on was Friends Monica and Chandler. They faced all kinds of challenges, but faced them together. That made hilarious, touching television. In fact, it's what kept me devoted to Friends. By the end I didn't really care what happened with Ross and Rachel. Their repeated couplings and uncouplings had killed the chemistry and fun that had had in the beginning.

The following story is an homage of sorts to a great Friends episode that was an important turning point for Monica and Chandler. It is just one of the challenges that Booth and Bones would face as they build their relationship.

It's a one-shot, so it's all here. Nothing to wait for.

The Lesson in the Fight

An exhausted Seeley Booth, opened the door to the condo that he now shared with Temperance Brennan, his Bones. He had stormed out hours ago furious with Bones. He had immediately realized that he was acting like an idiot, but wasn't ready just then to admit it to Bones. He'd spent the last several hours trying to come up with an apology and how to make it up to her. He'd realized that the only thing to do was admit that he'd been an idiot, that he was incredibly sorry, remind her that he loved her more than he could say, and tell her he would do anything she wanted to make it up to her. In short, he would throw himself on the mercy of the court, in this case the court of Temperance Brennan.

As he walked to the bedroom, he struggled with whether to wake Bones up. On the one hand, it was 3 AM. On the other, he didn't want her upset for even another second. But, mostly he wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her until … well kiss her for a good long time. If he was really lucky and she would let him, he wanted to … well … his own thoughts made him blush.

He opened the bedroom door and whispered, "Bones," but the bed was empty. It had clearly never been slept in.

"Where is she?" he wondered, worry starting to grip his mind.

He called out, "Bones." He checked the bathroom. She had not been in the kitchen or living room when he came in. He checked her office and the guest room. Clearly she was not there. The worry intensified when a call to her cell phone went immediately to voicemail. He knew that she could easily tell it was him calling and might be choosing not to answer, so he sent a text with their emergency signal, "B 2 B 911." Still she didn't respond.

Then he noticed that the door of the luggage closet was ajar. "Ok," he thought, "she went somewhere." That concerned him, but his first thought was that she had gone to Angela's.

He dialed Angela's number. A sleepy Jack Hodgins, answered, screaming into the phone, "It's 3 AM, this better be life or death, man."

Booth said, "Sorry, Hodgins, but I just got home and Bones isn't here. Is she there with you and Angie?"

"No, Booth." Hodgins' voice immediately registered concern. "What happened?"

"We had a huge fight and I stormed out. I sat in a bar drinking soda on the rocks trying to figure out how to apologize and make it up to her. When I finally realized that the only thing I could do was beg her to forgive me, I came home. She's not here and one of her suitcases is gone too."

"That is not good, man. You better talk to Angie. This is more her area of expertise than mine."

"Thanks, Jack."

Angie came on the line. Her voice was sleepy, but she clearly sounded concerned. "What did you do, you stupid man?"

"Yeah, yeah, I am stupid. I know. I yelled at her and stormed out of the house letting the door slam behind me. I knew it was a mistake immediately, but it took awhile before I was ready to surrender my pride. When I got home, she was gone and so is one of her suitcases. I hoped she was with you."

As Angela chastised him for being a typically clueless male, he was looking around for more clues. He checked her desk and to his great dismay found that her passport was gone.

"Oh, sh*t!"

Angela, clearly upset now, asked, 'What is it, Booth?"

"Her passport's gone. She's running away again. I am so stupid."

Angela could tell that the normally imperturbable Federal agent was now in full panic mode, so she replied, trying to sound calm, "Booth, get your *ss out to the airport pronto. I'll hack the airline sites and found out what flight she's on and call you. Jack says he'll put the Cantilever corporate jet on stand by so you can go right after her if you need to."

"What would I do without you guys?"

"You and Bren would still be 'just partners'." Booth could hear the sarcasm in her voice.

"I know. I'm heading out the door now. Let me give you some codes and stuff so you can get the airline info faster."

He was out the door and in the car by the time he'd given her the information to get into the airline passenger lists. He knew it wasn't a true emergency but turned on the siren anyway and sped to the airport.

Within a few minutes, Angela called him back with Bones's flight info.

"Thank you, Ange. I owe you guys big time."

"I'm thinking there will be diaper changing involved," laughed Angela. "Just go get her and bring her home. And, promise me you won't be such a stupid man again."

"I promise, Angela. Thanks. I don't deserve friends like you."

"It'll be ok, Booth. You're a good guy, most of the time," she said with another laugh and hung up.

Booth pushed the gas pedal down further.

Booth pulled up to the terminal. He stuffed his sidearm in the locked gun case under his seat. He didn't want to waste the time that getting a weapon through security required. Without it, his FBI credentials would speed him through.

Traffic control and security officers approached as he left his vehicle. He flashed his badge and pointed to the FBI tag on his dashboard. They gave him the ok with a nod.

He dashed through the airport. At the security screening checkpoint, he flashed his badge, pulled his jacket back to reveal that he carried no weapon and was waved on through. Now he ran at full speed, dodging children and old people, couples making out, luggage carts and all the other obstacles an airport provided in abundance. It was closing in on 5 in the morning, but the place was already bustling.

As he got to the gate, he could see they were getting ready to close the door to the ramp. He gasped, "Federal Agent, hold that door."

The gate agent looked at his credentials and said, "Agent … Booth, this plane is supposed to push off in a few minutes."

"I know. I need to speak with a passenger on that flight."

"What passenger?"

"Doctor Temperance Brennan."

"Oh, yes, Dr. Brennan is just in the door in first class. But, you have to hurry."

Thank you, Miss … Baker. This should only take a minute."

He ran down the ramp to the plane.

As soon as he stepped through the door, he saw her, and he saw the tracks of tears on her face. He called her name, "Bones."

She looked up at the sound of his voice. She looked confused and frightened and angry.

"Booth, what are you doing here?"

"Bones, what are you doing here?"

"Since you abandoned me, I decided I couldn't work with you any more and figured it would be a good idea to join that dig in Guatemala," she said, indignation in her voice.

"Bones, I didn't abandon you. I was angry and I needed some time and space and some fresh air to clear my head."

Booth noticed that people were beginning to focus on them.

He leaned in close and quietly said, "Bones, people are looking at us. Please come off the plane with me, and I will explain everything and apologize profusely and generally grovel at your feet begging for forgiveness."

He turned sad brown eyes to hers and gave her the chastened version of his charm smile.

She tried not to smile as she said, "Don't use that charm smile on me."

"Please, Bones, if you don't come off the plane with me now, you're going to have to buy me a first class ticket because I can't afford it, and I'm not letting you run away from me, from us, again."

She turned to him as she stood up and tried to give him a look of disapproval, but she had to admit to herself that she was relieved and happy that he had come to get her. She didn't really want to go to Guatemala anyway. Booth took her bag and her hand and led her off the plane.

When they got back to the gate, he apologized profusely to the gate agent and told her that she could close the door now. He stammered something about the FBI having a case that urgently needed Dr. Brennan's attention. The woman shook her head and gave him a look that said, "You're not fooling me, mister."

She turned to Dr. Brennan and said, "So, you won't be traveling with us today, Dr. Brennan. Let me give you some paperwork, so you can get a refund for your ticket."

Bones seemed unconcerned about that and asked the woman if she could just send it to her.

"Geez, Bones," said Booth, "that's a lot of money. Let's sit over here and talk while she does the paperwork for you."

Booth sat and as Bones started to sit, he pulled her into his lap. Bones looked embarrassed at this blatant display of affection in public. They had already drawn more than enough attention to themselves. But, Booth insisted.

"I want you in my arms. I want to hold you, so I know you can't get away while I try to apologize to you and try to make it up to you."

Looking confused, but no longer scared and angry, Bones just said, "Ok."

"First of all, I apologize and beg you to forgive me for being a big jerk. I should never have yelled at you, and I should never have stormed out of the house like that. I was an idiot, and stupid male pride kept me from just going right back and apologizing to you."

She looked at him. She looked confused and sad and scared as she said, "I don't understand, Booth. I don't think you've ever been so angry with me. I know you've never yelled at me like that. When you left, I thought you didn't want to be with me any more. That you didn't love me any more." Her blue eyes brimmed with tears.

"Oh, baby, it was just a fight. People who love each other and would never ever leave each other fight and storm out in anger. It's stupid and childish and thoughtless, but it doesn't mean they don't love the other person or that they don't want to be with them any more. It just means that they're angry, and they feel guilty about being angry, so they're angry at themselves, and they don't have the courage to face the other person and admit they were an idiot."

She looked into his warm brown eyes and said, "You mean **you** were angry and guilty and cowardly and idiotic?"

With a sheepish look, he quietly replied, "Yes."

She turned her blue eyes up in a look that told him, she was trying to figure something out, before saying, "Hmm, you're saying that an alpha male who is angry at his female feels guilty and feeling that an apology would be humiliating, he runs away. He tries to assuage his battered ego and hopes that the female's anger will subside because he is not around to further irritate her."

"There you go, Bones, getting all squinty on me. You know I find that very hot."

She punched his arm lightly and said, "That may be hot, but you still belong in the refrigerator, Buster."

"I think you mean 'cooler,' Bones," he replied giving her a goofy grin.

"Refrigerator, cooler, no matter, but I wasn't aware of this phenomenon."

"What? You've never seen an angry person storm out and later return all embarrassed and apologetic?"

"No. I've seen angry people storm out, but I've never found that they return, feeling apologetic or otherwise."

"Oh, baby, don't tell me you've never had a boyfriend who stormed out and came back and apologized."

"No, Booth. When we had a fight like that I always figured it meant the relationship was over, so I would take off, or I figured he didn't want to be with me any more, if he took off. I guess I never loved anyone enough …." She gasped and tears spilled from her eyes, as she choked out the words, "And, I guess no one loved me enough to …."

Booth pulled her in close and held her tightly, kissing her on top of her head and stroking her back. "Baby, I'm so sorry. They were all idiots not to come back to you, but I'm glad they didn't."

They sat quietly until Bones regained her composure. Booth wiped away the residue of her tears, and gently told her, "Temperance, I am so sorry that I put you through that. You must have thought that the worst had happened again. I was doing what everyone else had done and what I had promised to never do. I was abandoning you too."

Bones saw the look of sadness on Booth's face and that tears were beginning to cloud his beautiful brown eyes. She saw those eyes fixed intently on hers. It felt as if he was trying to see the actual thoughts and feelings that were running around in her mind.

He put his large strong hands to her face, to keep her from looking away and huskily told her, "Bones, you have to know that I will never leave you. There is only one way I will leave you, and I hope I will be a very, very, very old man who has had at least 50 years with you when that happens."

He touched his forehead to hers and they just looked at each other, oblivious to everything around them. They didn't notice the discomfited gate agent standing near by with some papers in her hand, until she coughed. Bones and Booth sat up straight and looked at her. She handed Bones the papers, and said, "This should take care of it. It includes a request for them to find your checked baggage and deliver it directly back to you as soon as possible."

They thanked her. Then Bones looked at Booth and said, "I'm very, very tired. Can we go home?

Booth let out a sigh of relief, and answered, "Of course we can, baby. In fact, nothing would make me happier."

He helped her off his lap, then stood himself. He took her hand and her bag and led her down the long corridors back to his car. As he helped her into the car and stowed her bag in back, one of the traffic control guys commented, loudly enough for Booth to hear, "That's one cute Federal emergency you've got there, Special Agent."

It was a good thing that Booth was exhausted too because that was the kind of remark that usually got his alpha male riled up. Instead of pummeling the guy, he said something about the FBI needing Brennan on a case. Like the gate agent, the traffic control officer gave him a knowing grin, then said, "Whatever you say, man. Whatever you say."

Booth found Bones with her head back and her eyes closed when he got into the SUV. He whispered, so as not to wake her if she was asleep, "You awake, babe?"

She opened her eyes, as she said, "Yes, I'm awake."

"There's one more thing, Bones, and it is very, very, very important."

"What is so very, very, very important, Booth?"

"We both did something very wrong today. We stopped communicating. We have to stop that."

"We have to stop stopping communicating?" Bones asked with just the slightest hint of sarcasm in it.

Booth ignored the sarcasm, pulled into traffic and continued, "Yes. Look what nearly happened because I stormed out and stayed away and you wouldn't answer my calls and texts. Because I stormed out and you came to some misguided conclusions, we nearly lost each other again."

"I know, Booth, that was really stupid of me."

"No, Bones, I was the stupid, self-absorbed one. In the throes of anger is a very self-centered place to be. It kept me from remembering that you often have no frame of reference in which to understand new emotional situations. And, that I'm the heart guy who is supposed to love and support you in these situations. I promise never to storm out like that again. If I need some air, I'll go out on the balcony or lock myself in the guest bath, whatever is necessary to get past the anger without running away from it and you. But, you have to promise …."

Bones cut in, "And, I promise to never not respond to your calls and texts, especially any 911 calls or texts."

"Exactly, Bones. We have to keep the lines of communication open at all times."

"Even when you feel like a humiliated, alpha male?" Booth saw the goofy grin on Bones' face.

"Yes, even when I am dying of embarrassment."

"I've never heard of anyone dying of embarrassment. What happens? Is there some kind of fatal combination of endorphins released?"

Bones saw Booth's face light up with joy. She was happy he was happy, but she wasn't sure what combination of brain chemicals had caused that either.

"Bones, you are such an amazing woman. So smart, but so often as innocent as the proverbial babe in the woods."

"What are you saying, Booth. I don't understand."

"Temperance, they're expressions and metaphors. No one …."

Bones smiled proudly as she exclaimed, "ever actually died from embarrassment, though they could I suppose if they got so embarrassed that their major physiological systems shut down."

"That doesn't sound good."

"Major organ failure never is. Now what idiot left their baby in the woods?"

Booth laughed, "You're so close, so close. Nobody left a baby in the woods, but think how vulnerable a baby left alone in the woods would be. How completely helpless they would be? How completely clueless they would be?"

"It's a metaphor for naivete?"

"Now you got it."

"But it's not really a metaphor. It's a simile because you said "like a babe in the woods."

"Semaphore, silly me's, potato, potahto. I promise I will keep listening and will not make it even harder for you to get through to me even if doing so makes me feel totally humiliated. I need you to promise the same."

"I do, Booth. And, I especially promise never to go running off without telling you first."

"That's all I ask, babe. That's all I ask."

Bones leaned over and kissed Booth on the cheek. Booth took her hand, kissed it and placed their hands together on the console between them. They both knew that sometimes you don't need to say anything to communicate everything that's important.


End file.
